Unfortunate experiences with rented bikes on a French tour underline the importance of ensuring bikes are the right type and in good condition
I’ve previously written an article about Cycling in the Dordogne, in France. This is a great area and in most respects we had an excellent trip, but there were problems with the rented bikes, which came to mind when I was writing about planning your first bike tour.
With three trains (Virgin, Eurostar and SNCF), and two capital cities to cross, we’d chosen not to bring our own bikes, but it would have been worth it. Perhaps we’re spoiled by having good bikes at home, but we were disappointed. The design was old-fashioned and heavy. I particularly disliked the swept-back handlebars, which made it almost impossible to climb out of the saddle. I’d have been much happier with straight bars as usually found on mountain bikes/ hybrids. Also the gearing was rather high for some of the hills.
All these were basic design faults. I don’t think it was too much to expect a simple, standard, modern hybrid bike, which are available everywhere (in Europe anyway) and don’t cost a fortune.
The bikes were obviously a few years old and showed signs of wear. For instance, mine had a suspension seat-post which creaked continually, at least until I worked out how to lock it down.
Unfortunately Cap Liberte, who provided the bikes, had already left them at our first night’s accommodation so we didn’t get a chance to test-ride. Both brakes on my bike were rubbing, and one brake block was too high and rubbed on the tyre. We corrected this ourselves, but we shouldn’t have had to.
My partner Bernie’s bike suffered a flat tyre within the first kilometre, and we discovered that the replacement tube had a different type of valve. Laurent from Cap Liberte assured us on the phone that this wasn’t a problem, but I am still not convinced that it’s safe to have a valve-stem that doesn’t fit the hole in the rim.
This same bike suffered a broken headset within ten kilometres. This made the steering very temperamental. We phoned Cap Liberte again and they promised to bring a replacement that evening. Bernie therefore had to nurse the problem for the rest of the day, which fortunately was not too great a distance, but coping with the steering spoiled the fun of a long swooping descent. In less skilled hands it could have been very dangerous.
The replacement bike arrived at 10pm and was even older and heavier. They said it was the last one they had - we think they should have better reserves.
After this we had no more major problems and had a very enjoyable time but it still underlines that if you can’t take your own bike away with you, it’s vital to ensure that rented bikes are of decent quality and proper fit.
